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In the fourth part of the "Unser Land" series, WDR and BROADVIEW TV take a look at NRW in the 1980s.
In probably no other decade has North Rhine-Westphalia been so badly shaken as in this one: Heavy industry takes its toll, environmental disasters in the form of toxic rivers or clouds of smog cast gloomy shadows over the state.
At the same time, heavy industry is finally going under.
The Rheinhausen rolling mill, for example, has to close.
But the federal state becomes a stronghold of pop and rock music, new cultural venues emerge - harbingers of a new North Rhine-Westphalia.
Johannes Rau promises "We in NRW" - and gives the state a soul.
Nena from Hagen becomes a world star.
With the Humpe sisters and Extrabreit, the small town at the gateway to the Sauerland region shaped the soundtrack of our country far beyond the 1980s.
Just like Herbert Grönemeyer with his hymn to Bochum, Düsseldorf's Toten Hosen and Cologne's BAP.
What a decade!
Hundreds of thousands gather in Bonn to protest against rearmament.
Citizens understand that "our country" needs a better environmental policy.
Ursula Kraus, the first Green mayor, is elected in Wuppertal.
From a party that had only just been founded.
Rheinhausen becomes synonymous with protest, the miners from Duisburg go on strike for months to preserve their steelworks, blocking bridges and highways.
The country is behind them, but they are not successful in the long term.
However, large sections of young people are losing their enthusiasm for politics.
Poppers, punks, skins or ecologists - never has a generation been as fragmented as this one.
The Museum Ludwig is being built in Cologne, creating another crowd-puller right next to the cathedral: The museum houses one of the world's most impressive pop art collections and not only forms an exciting counterweight to the historic cathedral, but also sets the direction for NRW.
The federal state must become more modern, must reinvent itself.
The poisoned Rhine, which flows under the Hohenzollern Bridge right next to the cathedral and Museum Ludwig, is a reminder of this.
The end of the decade makes it clear that nothing will be the same after the 1980s: while the traditional Henrichshütte steelworks is closed, the state parliament moves into a new building.
It is glass and transparent and seems to symbolize the need for a new openness in times of upheaval.
The Wall falls in Berlin, Germany changes.
And like the entire country, NRW will have to face new challenges and reinvent itself in the coming decade.
Between environmental sins and times of upheaval, great stories and small anecdotes unfold - an exciting journey through time, which is only a small part of the diverse history of North Rhine-Westphalia that the "Our State" series brings to life.
First broadcast: Friday, September 9, 2016, 8:15 p.m. on WDR
